


Lily of the Valley

by virtualreality



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, babs visit the gardens awww
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-22
Updated: 2014-03-22
Packaged: 2018-01-16 14:09:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1350235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/virtualreality/pseuds/virtualreality
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mizuki takes Sei to the park for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lily of the Valley

**Author's Note:**

> A request from an anon for Mizusei fluff. I figured I'd just dump this here since it's kind of long. I'm also still taking requests on my tumblr, protectsei, if you'd like me to write you anything!

The first thing Mizuki does once Sei is well enough is take them to the gardens.

Originally having been roommates after the fall of the tower, Mizuki and Sei are now quite close. It’s been a long time since then, with Sei being too weak and unstable to leave the hospital for a good three months, and it being another two before they were strong enough or brave enough to go outside for more than a few minutes at a time. Things still aren’t perfect, though. Sei hasn’t spoken a word since Aoba entered their mind all that time ago, and has made it quite clear that they don’t intend to do so in the near future. Mizuki has his bad days as well. He still finds himself unable to get out of bed on the occasion, and is plagued with crippling nightmares.

But they manage, and despite the barriers that have faced them, have grown quite close over the months. Which is why, on a fine morning in July, Mizuki finds himself at Sei’s doorstep.

He knocks sharply, three times, then waits. He knows Sei is still hardly swift when it comes to moving about, and that he might be a few minutes, so he sits down upon their front steps and allows his mind to wander. Mizuki’s quite fond of Sei, he’s decided, though he’s unsure of what kind of fond, exactly. He fidgets at the thought, wringing his hands and shifting slightly. Well, hopefully today will help him to decide, he thinks to himself as the door swings upon.

In the threshold stands Sei, adorned, for the most part, in their usual attire. However, it seems they’ve ditched their typical white overshirt and gloves, and swapped their fedora in favor of a sunhat. Mizuki thinks this a wise decision, as summers in Midorjima are known to be quite hot.

“Good morning,” he chirps, and Sei gives a small wave and a gentle smile in response. Mizuki beams inwardly as he stands, for he cherishes the other’s smile, and the fact that he’s been seeing it more and more often lately brings him a great deal of joy and elation. “How’ve you been?”

Sei’s smile only widens as they hold their hand up in the universal sign for, ‘ok!’, then cock their head to the side slightly. Mizuki has known them for long enough to understand that Sei is asking how he’s been, and responds in kind.

“I’m fine,” he shrugs. Things haven’t been all that eventful lately. “Do you still want to go to the park?”

Sei nods excitably, and Mizuki, giving a slight chuckle, takes this to mean yes.

“Alright then, Princess. Come along.”

The walk to the park is not a particularly long one, only about ten blocks or so, but it takes close to a half hour to complete due to the slow rate at which Sei walks. At this point, they’ve recovered near completely from the ordeal they’d endured at Toue’s hand, at least physically, so Sei’s pace is hardly due to strain. Mizuki assumes it’s more of a personal choice than anything. Locked away for twenty three years, the other had never even been outside until recently, let alone had time to stop and smell the roses. It makes sense that they would like to take things slowly and to appreciate the world around them now that they have all the time they could ever need. And so, Mizuki looks on with fondness as Sei strolls leisurely beside him, gazing with a kind of amazement at their surrounds, at the pale hue of the sky and the brightness of leaves which hang down from the trees and the excited chatter of a busy city mulling about around them as if they’re seeing all of them for the first time again.

“Close your mouth. You’re going to swallow a bug,” he comments, breaking Sei’s daydream. They snap their jaw shut hurriedly, bringing a hand to their lips in self consciousness, and Mizuki is almost disappointed. “I’m just kidding around. You’re cute when you get excited like that.”

At this, Sei’s large, black eyes widen, and the pale, unmarred skin of their cheeks flushes a bright pink.

Once they arrive at the park, Sei only has eyes for the flowers. Their eyes fill with a unique sort of joy, and Mizuki can only look on with a sense of happiness, hoping to god or whoever else is out there that the other might be this happy all of the time. Once again, their mouth hangs open slightly and subconsciously as they gaze about, positively enamored by all of that which surrounds them. Distracted and unfocused in his current state, Mizuki soons finds himself being tapped on the shoulder, Sei leading him over to a group of white flowers.

They’re small, hanging down from their stems in groups, and have an air of innocence about them. Rather elegant. Sei points towards a bronze placard beside the fair plant.

“Lily of the Valley,” reads Mizuki, “is a flower with a sweet scent, however it is also- wait a second, it’s poisonous?” Sei nods vigorously in response, clapping their hands together in excitement and grasping Mizuki gently by the hand so as to lead him over to another group of flowers, these violet in hue. Mizuki isn’t paying the slightest bit of attention, however. Whilst Sei eagerly scans the placard, dark eyes moving back and forth past the words with fascination, all Mizuki can think about is Sei’s small hand within his own.

Sei has, for the first time since they’ve been out of the hospital (and free from being forced to wear one of those godawful gowns), discarded their gloves in order to accommodate for the weather, while still wearing a hat to be mindful of their sensitive skin. Usually, Sei is entirely bundled up, eyes hidden in shade by the rim of their fedora, with only the tips of their fingers showing through their gloves. This is for good reason, of course, as Sei’s skin had never really been exposed to sunlight while he was in Platinum Jail, and now burns more easily (and more brightly) than any other’s Mizuki has ever seen, to Sei’s great dismay.

Still, the means that this is the first time Mizuki has ever felt the bare skin of Sei’s hands. At least, for longer than a brief and accidental brush of limbs.

Sei’s hands are breathtakingly small. They’re thin too, the bones of their knuckles raised and showing towards the surface of their fair skin. They jut out like the rest of Sei’s limbs and joints, giving them the look of an incredibly sickly and malnourished person, because, well, Sei is somewhat sickly, and had been malnourished until only a short while ago. The rest is probably accounted for in their genes. Their hands are cold as well, and as Mizuki clutches them for all he’s worth, he can’t help but glance up worriedly every few moments, as if to reassure himself that the hand he’s holding isn’t the one of a corpse.

Cheer up, Mizuki, he tries to tell himself, this is a visit to the park, not a funeral. Sei isn’t dead. They’re far from it. So panicked and engrossed is he in his own thoughts, before long, Sei themself is looking up, gazing up at him with wide black eyes, which gleam not unlike the surface of a pond in the nighttime. Sei gives him a small nudge on the shoulder as if to ask, “are you alright?” and Mizuki feels what seem like miniscule electric shocks run through him as he meets Sei’s gaze. However, he recognizes the sensation, and it feels more reassuring than painful or shocking.

Sei might not speak, might not ever speak, but they’re still a creator. They’re still one who builds and sees and heals.

They’re also awfully good at reading body language, and are clearly worried that he’s regressing into old habit of self doubts and anxiety, of worrying too much and too often. Always concerned, always worried about himself, about the wellbeing of his teammates, about-

“Ow!” Sei jabs him sharply on the arm, far more sharply than they would normally, and simply shakes their head in something akin to amusement when he yelps. They’d been right, after all. He had been regressing into old habits.

“Hey, what are those over there?” Mizuki points to a group of yellow flowers, trying to change the subject.

 

* * *

 

Two hours later, and the sun is hanging much lower in the sky. Similarly, Sei’s eyelids feel like weights as they stubbornly attempt to continue reading placards.

“Don’t overexert yourself, you dummy,” Mizuki says from behind them. “Do you want to end up back in the hospital?” Sei dismisses him with a wave of their hand, assuring him not to worry. Even so, their legs began to tremble in their tiredness, threatening to give out.

“C’mon,” says Mizuki, “I’ll carry you.”

Admitting defeat, Sei allows themself to be hoisted onto Mizuki’s back, wrapping their arms weakly around his neck to keep from falling backwards.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be home soon.” Sei rests their head on his shoulder, confident that Mizuki will be able to transport them home safely and without issue. The afternoon air is cool, and Sei’s hat droops on their head as their eyes begin to fall shut. Soon enough, they doze off, content and at peace. They’re glad they’d gotten to see the flowers.

 

 


End file.
